


Fac fideli sis fidelis

by Anonymous



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fantasy, Gladiator!Fili, M/M, Prince!Kili, Ritual Sex, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 09:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20405449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Only the pure of heart can serve their Prince





	Fac fideli sis fidelis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Linane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linane/gifts).

Love can be as hurtful as it can be sweet. Albeit Fili has only known the love of the crowd (overwhelming and fleeting, always with this bitter undertone), he still believes that any form of love is cruel just as much as it is soothing. 

* * *

They travel South, the gladiator and his Prince (and entourage, of course, he _ is _ a Prince). Fili can’t help but raise his gaze from the shaggy mane of his new horse (a beautiful mare with sandy flanks and eyes like pure peridots) and look around. How can it be more south than the South where he grew up? 

Then they turn East. 

The sun still burns way too hot for Fili’s liking, but the wind tastes different. It’s heavier somehow, and not with desert heat but with the moisture. It tickles Fili’s chapped lips and steals his breath. He could have said that this (the wind, the moisture in the air, the sun, those little patches of green grass and hefty flowers) is not to his liking at all, but Kili, his Prince, who rides beside him, blooms like said flowers and smiles brightly. 

(And Fili finds himself unable to do or say _ anything _that would dim the light in his eyes even a little).

And then they are there.

* * *

His Uncle isn’t happy.

Well, he has never been happy with Kili before, so it would be childish to assume he would start now. Now, when Kili brought home a worn out gladiator instead of a rare gem. 

(Kili could argue that there are not enough sapphires and beryls in their treasuries to compare to Fili, but again, it would be childish).

Kili is not a child.

Kili is a Prince.

There are rules to follow and things to be done. It doesn’t really matter whether he likes it or not.

(Fili does look beautiful on his silk sheets and under his home stars, just as Kili expected).

* * *

_You have to die for your Prince so you can live for him. _

It makes no sense to Fili, who is used to simple life and simple lines. But apparently, this is his world now.

* * *

There is an altar. Of course, there is an altar - a big one, made of stone and clad in rubies. Its edges smooth from winds that have caressed it through time. It's cold - Fili hasn’t touched it yet, but he stands close enough to feel the bone deep freeze that seeps from it in waves. Like breathes of something that is very much alive. And made of stone.

For the first time Fili doubts his decision to come here.

Not like he has a choice any longer.

* * *

It ends in pain. Of course, it does. In pain and pleasure - this odd mixture that confuses Fili more than it frustrates him. 

There is a dagger right in the middle of his chest, it’s made of gold and glimmering in the flickering light of fires. Kili is straddling his hips, moving slowly - up and down, up and down. Kili’s hair is a mess of strands and braids, his wet red lips are open in a silent moan. His thighs and bare chest are covered in tiny beads of sweat. Fili can see his muscles moving under golden skin. 

It’s mesmerizing.

(It’s burning hot and burning cold, and Fili loses himself in this mixture of feelings and emotions that are too complicated for him to comprehend.)

The pain gets stronger. So does the pleasure. Kili arches his back, his hips stutters losing for a moment their perfect rhythm. And Fili can’t help but groan, still not sure if it is from pain or pleasure. 

(He doesn’t really care.)

* * *

And then, eventually, it’s over.

It’s done.

There is no turning back.

* * *

There is a story known to everyone from East to West. Southerns don’t like it much, but northerns pass it on, adding beautiful details of hot deserts that they have never seen.

A story of a Prince and his Gladiator.

A sad one but with a happy ending.

(They lived together, fought together and later ruled together, side by side.)

(Some say, even though they fought together, the Gladiator had never killed a soul again. Not after purifying ritual, for everyone knows that only the pure of heart can serve their Prince and stay by his side forever.)

It is a sweet story indeed. Fili can listen it again and again without ever getting bored. Kili just laughs when anyone tries to tell it. 

(The sun reflects in his hazel eyes and Fili can’t make himself to look away.)

(Not that he ever needs to.)


End file.
